Over-the-counter drugs and non-febrile thermoregulation: is there cause for concern?

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyCore temperature (Tc) regulation is fundamental to mammalian survival, since hypothermia (Tc ≤ 35°C) and hyperthermia (Tc ≥ 40°C) are major risk factors for health and wellbeing. The purpose of this thesis was to determine if acetaminophen, an analgesic and antipyretic drug, increased the onset of hypothermia or hyperthermia during passive cold and heat stress, respectively. It was later investigated if acetaminophen induced inhibition of cyclooxygenase mediated these side-effects. In Study 1a, the plasma acetaminophen response to a dose of 20 mg·kg-1 of lean body mass was determined through enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. In Study 1b, the effect of acetaminophen administration on internal temperature (rectal; Tre) during a passive 2-hour mild cold (20°C, 40% relative humidity) exposure was examined. Study 1a showed that the plasma response was homogenous between subjects, reaching peak concentrations between 80-100 minutes (14 ± 4 μg·ml-1). In Study 1b, acetaminophen reduced Tre in all participants compared with baseline, and the average peak reduction was 0.19 ± 0.09°C. In contrast, Tre remained stable when participants ingested a sugar placebo. Study 1 is the first experiment which confirms a hypothermic side-effect of acetaminophen in healthy humans. Study 2 investigated whether acetaminophen augmented the rate of Tre rise during exposure to passive dry (45°C, 30% r.h.) and humid (45°C, 70% r.h.) heat stress for 2-hours and 45-minutes, respectively. This study showed that the rate of Tre rise in the dry (0.005 vs 0.006°C∙min-1) and humid (0.023 vs 0.021 °C∙min-1) conditions were similar between the acetaminophen and placebo trials (p > 0.05). Study 2 is the first experiment which confirms acetaminophen has no meaningful effect on thermoregulation during passive dry or humid heat exposure. Study 3 determined how the hypothermic effect of acetaminophen changes during exposure to a thermoneutral (25°C, 40% r.h.) and cold (10°C, 40% r.h.) environment for 2-hours. In summary, there was no hypothermic effect of acetaminophen in a thermoneutral environment (p > 0.05), whereas Tre fell by 0.40 ± 0.15°C compared with baseline during cold stress (p < 0.05). Compared with the placebo, Tre was ~0.35°C lower at 120 minutes, but was significantly lower from 70-minutes. Study 3 confirmed that there is a relationship between the level of cold stress and magnitude of the hypothermic effect of acetaminophen. Study 4 determined whether ibuprofen (400 mg), a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, reduced Tre during 2-hour passive cold stress (10°C, 40% r.h.) to a level comparable with acetaminophen. Ibuprofen administration did not influence Tre, vastus medialis shivering, or energy expenditure compared with a placebo throughout the cold exposure (p > 0.05). Taken together, this renders it unlikely that cyclooxygenase activity is required for thermogenesis induced by skin cooling. Study 4 provides evidence that acetaminophen induced hypothermia is not exclusively mediated by cyclooxygenase inhibition. In Summary, this series of experiments has shown that acetaminophen has a hypothermic side effect in healthy humans, which is amplified during acute cold stress. Ibuprofen had no such effect on thermoregulation during cold exposure, so it is unlikely that cyclooxygenase inhibition mediates the hypothermic side-effect of acetaminophen

Juror decision making in acquaintance and marital rape: The influence of clothing, alcohol and pre-existing stereotypical attitudes

Stereotypical biases about women’s roles in intimate relationships including their marital status and lifestyle choices such as clothing and alcohol use influence juror attributions of rape case defendant guilt, potentially reducing access to justice for victims. Across two mock-juror decision making experiments, participants read identical fictitious sexual assault vignettes varying in intoxicated defendant-complainant relationship (married vs. acquaintance), accompanied by photographs of complainant clothing at the crime (body revealing vs. plain) and in court (smart vs. casual). Experiment 2 additionally described the defendant’s alcohol consumption as either under or over the drink drive limit. Most participants delivered guilty verdicts (Experiment 1: 86.7%; Experiment 2: 75.5%), recommending mean prison sentences of 5.04 years in Experiment 1 (n = 218 students) and 4.33 years in Experiment 2 (n = 1,086 members of public). In Experiment 1, guilty verdict rates and sentences were significantly higher when the married - but not the acquaintance - complainant dressed smartly rather than casually in court. In Experiment 2, significantly more guilty verdicts were delivered by females (80.3%) than males (66.9%), while sentence lengths were longer in acquaintance (M = 4.52 years) than married conditions (M = 4.10). Significant interactions between defendant alcohol use and clothing choice of the married - but not the acquaintance complainant - at the crime also influenced sentencing decisions. Higher scores on additionally administered scales measuring rape myth acceptance and sexist attitudes, but not alcohol expectancies, predicted lenient sentencing decisions in both experiments. These findings highlight how ‘rape myths’ concerning marriages drive juror decisions. Prosecuting lawyers should use these results to better challenge these attitudes in court. Internationally, rape is often unreported to the police, and married victims may be more willing to come forward if they believe unbiased access to justice is likely

Examination of intramolecular interactions between residues of the cys-loop GABA receptor Hco-UNC-49 from Haemonchus contortus

Haemonchus contortus is a parasitic nematode known to infect ruminant animals such as sheep, goats and cattle. Despite several different anthelmintic drugs available to control the spread of this infection, H. contortus has shown resistance to all of them. In order to combat the infection, a novel drug target must be found and characterized. Hco-UNC-49 is unique parasitic nematode ??-aminobutyric acid (GABA) gated chloride channel that may prove to be a novel drug target. The objective of this thesis was to characterize intramolecular interactions of Hco-UNC-49B. Two sets of oppositely charged residues were chosen based on their proximity to each other in a model of Hco-UNC-49 generated using the C. elegans GluCl crystal structure as a template. These residues are predicted to form salt bridges in Hco-UNC-49B which may contribute to structure, function, and molecular interactions with ligands. Each amino acid was mutated to an alanine, followed by a mutation to a similar charged amino acid, and finally a swap between the two residues encompassing the salt bridge. It was found that all residues chosen were critical for receptor function to varying degrees. R159 may be interacting with D83 by either a hydrogen or ionic interaction. Overall, this thesis revealed a probable salt bridge that may be conserved among GABA receptors, as well as one novel interaction that may be unique to Hco-UNC-49. These results expose similarities and differences between Hco-UNC-49 and mammalian GABA receptors that may be vital for the creation of new anthelmintics

Adopting a Citizen Science approach to develop cost-effective methods that will deliver annual information for managing small-scale recreational fisheries: The Southwest Recreational Crabbing Project

Fishing for the blue swimmer crab, Portunus armatus, represents an iconic Western Australian recreational fishing experience. State-wide integrated surveys of boat-based recreational fishing conducted by the Department of Fisheries, Western Australia (DoF) in 2011/12 and 2013/14 reported that three times more blue swimmer crabs were caught than any other recreational species (Ryan etal., 2013; Ryan et al., 2015)

Online Active Inference and Learning

ABSTRACT We present a generalized framework for active inference, the selective acquisition of labels for cases at prediction time in lieu of the estimated labels of a predictive model. We develop techniques within this framework for classifying in an online setting, for example, for classifying the stream of web pages where online advertisements are being served. Stream applications present novel complications because (i) we don&apos;t know at the time of label acquisition what instances we will see, (ii) instances repeat based on some unknown (and possibly skewed) distribution. To address the complications, we combine ideas from decision theory, cost-sensitive learning, online density estimation, and we introduce a method for on-line estimation of the utility distribution that allows us to manage the budget over the stream. The resulting model tells which instances to label so that by the end of each budget period, the budget is best spent (in expectation). We test the method on streams from a real application. The main results show that: (1) our proposed approach to active inference on streams can indeed reduce error costs substantially over alternative approaches, (2) more sophisticated online estimations achieve larger reductions in error. We then discuss the setting of simultaneously conducting active inference and active learning. We argue and provide some support that our expected-utility active inference strategy also selects good examples for learning

Care Works: Come Home for Care

Essential to executing the mission and vision of an academic medical center (AMC) is attracting and retaining the highest quality employees. As demonstrated by VCU’s commitment to the Great Place Initiative, the University has recognized that employees in today’s highly competitive environment demand competitive salary and benefit packages. Research has shown that access to high quality, on-site healthcare services provides significant benefits to both employees and employers, such as increased productivity and reduced wellness costs[1]. Yet, a query of de-identified patient records indicated that only a small percentage of VCU employees (~18%) utilized the health services provided by VCU Health System in 2016. VCU’s peer-institutions, other distinguished AMCs, and industry employers have implemented a variety of programs such as concierge services, expedited appointments, on-campus clinics, and lower copays to remain competitive and responsive to their employees. In light of the depth of these programs, Team CareWorks completed a comparative review of health and wellness related employee-specific benefits to determine how VCU might enhance its benefits through initiatives such as on-site medical clinics, prioritized appointments, telehealth, and on-site pharmacies. Informed by the comparative analysis, Team CareWorks will provide recommendations that VCU can use to: capitalize on the integrated relationship with VCU Health to enrich the health and wellness of its outstanding assets (the employees); and provide enhanced benefits to employees by making VCU Health more easily accessible and more appealing as a Medical Home. [1]Berry, Leonard, Ann M. Mirabito, & William B. Baun. “What\u27s the Hard Return on Employee Wellness Programs?” (2010). Harvard Business Review, December 2010.. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=206487

Current and Nascent SETI Instruments

Here we describe our ongoing efforts to develop high-performance and sensitive instrumentation for use in the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI). These efforts include our recently deployed Search for Extraterrestrial Emissions from Nearby Developed Intelligent Populations Spectrometer (SERENDIP V.v) and two instruments currently under development; the Heterogeneous Radio SETI Spectrometer (HRSS) for SETI observations in the radio spectrum and the Optical SETI Fast Photometer (OSFP) for SETI observations in the optical band. We will discuss the basic SERENDIP V.v instrument design and initial analysis methodology, along with instrument architectures and observation strategies for OSFP and HRSS. In addition, we will demonstrate how these instruments may be built using low-cost, modular components and programmed and operated by students using common languages, e.g. ANSI C.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, Original version appears as Chapter 2 in "The Proceedings of SETI Sessions at the 2010 Astrobiology Science Conference: Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CETI)," Douglas A. Vakoch, Edito

Alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 lockdown period: predictors of at-risk drinking at different AUDIT-C cut-off thresholds

During the COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol consumption was largely confined to drinking in the home. There has been little research examining variables associated with risk in home drinking. The study employed an online survey of (n = 1128) individuals who had been recruited for their face recognition skills (n = 838, 70.9% females, mean age 45.05 (12.3 SD). The main dependent variables were three different AUDIT-C cut-off scores for at-risk drinking: (a) 5 for both genders as recommended by Public Health England, (b) 7 for females and 8 for males (cut-off for students and young people) and (c) 8 for both genders (individuals seeking online help for their drinking ). Among the independent variables were gender and age, motivations for home drinking using the Home Drinking Assessment Scale (HDAS), purchasing patterns, context of drinking and health and wellbeing. The predictors following hierarchical logistic regressions were for (a) purchasing alcohol online or at a supermarket and emotional HDAS scores, (b) purchasing alcohol online or at a supermarket and for parties, drinking alone and with other members of the household and emotional and practical reason HDAS scores, (c) as for b with the addition that men were more likely to be at-risk drinkers. At-risk drinking in the pandemic was explained by motivational reasons, purchasing patterns and situational factors

Junior Recital

List of performers and performances